The Coder
by Whouffle to the max
Summary: Whouffle Game developer AU. The Doctor is the head of TARDIS Studios, the world renowned Video Game developer. Clara is the new employee beginning at the Studio. When she and The Doctor meet, sparks fly and something incredible begins. Can they admit their feelings for each other? And can The Doctor fix the error in their next game, Pond Life 2, before it ships?


**Authors note: So, my first AU! Been working on this idea for a while. I think I'm the first person to do a Game developer whouffle AU. Before the story begins, I want to thank ThePotterDoctor for inspiring me to write a AU.**

The office was quiet. Ridiculously quiet. All but one of the occupied computers had been powered down and all but one set of lights were dark. The only set of lights that remained switched on was at the back of the room. One single worker remained at his computer, fixing the code that he had produced during the day. TARDIS Studios was a world renowned game developer, one that was well known for some of the biggest games in the world like The Song of The Silence. The Doctor, the head of the studio, was fixing code for their next game which was to ship in eleven months. He had been working on the same code for the entire day, trying to fix an error in the day and night cycle of the game. The in-game time would loop back a day for some strange reason and The Doctor couldn't figure out why this was happening. The game that the studio was currently working on was a sequel to one of their most famous games, Pond Life. A murder-mystery with RPG and Action elements, Pond Life was critically acclaimed by the gaming community at large and was loved and adored by many people.

The Doctor sighed. He had been working on the code for 3 hours now and was still no closer to fixing the problem. Not even his entire staff could figure out what was wrong with the code and The Doctor couldn't. He saved his code and shut down his workstation. He would have to try and fix it tomorrow, but for now he needed sleep. He turned off the lights and walked out of the office doors, locking them behind himself. He walked home and was thinking about ways to fix the problem the entire time. Even as he reached his apartment, opened the door and entered, flicking the kettle as he did so, he couldn't figure out why the code was not performing the function it should be performing. He realised that the code would have to wait until tomorrow afternoon, as he had a new employee starting at the Studio tomorrow who he had to give a tour to. The new employee was a Miss Clara Oswald. The Doctor picked up the kettle and as he did so, he thought to himself…

" _Maybe she could fix the code."_

"Excuse me, I'm lost. Would you happen to know where TARDIS Studios is? It's my first day and I'm not sure exactly where to go." Clara Oswald asked nervously. The small brunette woman had been preparing for her first day at the Studio and had even printed instructions to reach the building. The only issue was that she had left them back at her flat which was a good ten minute walk to the Studio and she only had five minutes left before she was supposed to be at work.

The Construction worker looked at her and replied kindly,

"Go down Darvill Street, turn left when you reach the end and the building will be in front of you. You better hurry!"

"I will. Thank you." Clara said with gratitude evident in her voice. She ran down Darvill Street and turned left and the building was indeed directly in front of her. She slowed to a walk and thanked her lucky stars that she had made it in time. It wouldn't have looked very good at all if she had arrived late on her first day. She walked inside the building, feeling butterflies build in her stomach. She had been working toward this, a job in coding , and was extremely nervous about her first day on the job. Clara entered the buildings large reception and turned to the receptionist. The receptionist was a woman with fiery bushy red hair and a kind looking face. She seemed to be about the same age as Clara. She looked up as Clara approached her and smiled.

"Ah, you must be the new employee! Clara Oswald, I presume?" The receptionist inquired happily.

"You would presume correctly. Sorry for my appearance, I've been running because I thought I was going to be late. I couldn't find the building." Clara answered politely to the woman.

"That's fine. My name is Mel, short for Melanie. If you wait here, I'll just get The Doctor to come down here and give you the tour."

Confused, Clara asked

"The Doctor?"

Mel stood for her chair and told Clara that The Doctor was the head of the Studio. She then walked off and disappeared for a few minutes while Clara waited for her to return. When she did return, She had a man wearing a bow tie and tweed jacket in tow. Clara presumed that this was the Doctor. The Doctor shook her hand firmly.

"Ah, you must be Clara Oswald! I'm the Doctor, the head of the studio. If you follow me, I'll give you the tour of the building and then show you what I need you to do." The Doctor said, cheerily.

This caused Clara to snap out of a state of shock she had fell into when she saw a man wearing a bow tie walk towards her. She realised that she had been staring in the building and attempted to cover this up by speaking to The Doctor about her reasons for wanting to work in the industry.

"I've always loved coding and I coded a game in college. I realised in college that I wanted to work in the industry because of how rewarding it felt to make a working game."

The tour went without much event with only the occasional conversation between The Doctor and Clara. The Doctor and Clara walked through the corridor and throughout the doors at the end. They entered into a large room filled with people who were all laughing and speaking about various things. Clara gaped at the sheer size of the room. She didn't know how a building that seemed so small could have a room that was so large.

"This is the main room! This is where you'll be working. So what do you think? Are you ready to start?" The Doctor asked Clara, smiling widely like a child who had just been given something they really wanted. He seemed extremely proud in the building and his workers. He looked at Clara for a response.

"It's incredible! I can't believe it! I didn't realise game studios were so big!" Clara said in response, shock in her voice. She immediately realised how stupid she sounded. Of course game studios were so big!

"Right, then!" The Doctor exclaimed loudly over the noise coming from the workers. "Are you ready for your first day at TARDIS Studios?"

 **Authors note: So what do you think? I know, there's not really any whouffle yet, but that was only the first chapter! I don't know how much I'll be updating this, so keep your eyes peeled! Thank for reading!"**


End file.
